TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington has a very informative piece on the credit crisis and its effect on startups. Apparently, many startups are putting their venture cash in Auction Rate Securities, financial instruments that are normally very liquid and provide better yields than typical bank savings/checkings accounts. Unfortunately, the perfect storm of the current credit crisis has put a freeze on the ARS market and startups are finding a difficult time to access their cash.
What really surprised me from the article was that many startups were putting their cash in …

Macro

Once again, Mark Zandi and his team at Moody’s Economy.com (MCO) comes through with something interesting. Click through on the image below and interact with the map to find out if your state and county is in risk of recession. My home state of California is definitely at risk, dragged down by rapidly falling housing prices. I currently spend most of my time in Utah, one of the few places that has seen strong economic expansion and even strong real estate price appreciation. Forbes recently named Salt Lake City first …

I love this guy Sam Zell – he’s just so funny and sharp. Zell is the real estate investment billionaire who sold his Equity Office Properties Trust to the Blackstone Group for $39 billion in the early part of 2007. He recently bought the Tribune Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The company also owns the Chicago Cubs major league baseball franchise. Zell is known for using colorful language during press conferences and speaking very clearly and succinctly in a straightforward …

Macro

More pain in the housing market anticipated as some homeowners find themselves “underwater” or owing more on their homes than what their homes are worth on the market. According to Mark Zandi at Economy.com (MCO), 10% of all homeowners currently face this negative equity situation. Zandi also sees home prices falling 20% as the economy worsens into a recession. Zandi could be underestimating the damage; homeowners abandon their homes and mortgages at a high rate when they enter negative territory on their equity. Foreclosures and abandoned mortgages exacerbate the problem …